Dom

🤷 He provides again.

Signing of the summer. Straight up, signing of the summer in my opinion. One of the most press resistant midfielders in the league, superb tactical brain knowing when to progress play and when slow it down in possession, incredible in ground duels, A true standards setter who’ll run for days out of possession to win the ball back high up the pitch, think of Son under Ange. Yes they’re different positions, but they set the standards of the intensity required out of possession which teammates see and realise they need to be doing the same. A top athletic and physical profile. He always wants the ball, whether that’s in the first phase or in the final phase, very confident in possession showcasing a good phycological l profile trusting his abilities. Just look at screenshot 4 below, who else would have the confidence to dribble out of that situation and do it successfully! He see’s passes that no one else does, look at screenshot 1, everyone watching that game plus the Japanese defence thought he was about to shoot, but instead he slips in Martinelli who scores the winner. Don’t think he’s a solely defensive profile, because he isn't. More than half of Newcastle’s attacks indirectly or directly come through him, last season he got 9 Premier League goals and 5 assists, I can already see game states next season in tightly contested games for Arsenal that his long shots and individual moments will be the difference between Arsenal coming away with 3 points in comparison to 1. Rice - Left 8 Bruno G - Right 8 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 That’s crazy good. His phycological profile impresses me a lot, how many times at St James Park have we seen him time a tackle perfectly before fist pumping the fans, he’s someone who almost demands to win. Vital piece to Newcastle’s recent revelation from the relegation zone to top 4 + a Carabao Cup trophy. He’ll be part of a winning team at Arsenal that's for sure, one of my favourite midfielders in the entire sport. Lacks ariel dominance but that’s mainly down him not being as tall as a Declan Rice for example. This is a monumental signing for Arsenal, irreplaceable for Newcastle. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will continue to win. 🔴

Frequent game theme for Türkiye, 5 or 6 in the last line but a lack of depth and runners in behind to cause the Paraguay backline any sort of problems. USA tore the Paraguay block apart from frequent 3rd man movements and runs in behind from deep. We saw none of that with Türkiye. The amount of shots from stupid distances Türkiye had were crazy. 95% of them went way over the bar which allowed Paraguay to take their time with the restart wasting valuable seconds which turned into minutes. This wasn't only apparent in the Paraguay game either, we saw this frequently against Australia with the same outcome again and again. Lack of adaptation.

Quite frankly...that's disgraceful defending.

De Zerbi principles vs Chelsea: - Pass and RUN - Manipulation of Chelsea's press through Palhinha Gallagher and Bentancur taking turns to drop into the backline in build up - Inverted FB's into the half spaces when in settled possession - Out of possession structure could be exploited in future by teams with elite technicality in the first phase Thread of videos below ⬇️

Wolfsburg vs Paderborn half time analysis: Really not much in this, both teams build in a 3-1-6/3-2-5 and both teams sit in a 5-2-3/5-3-2 mid block off the ball to match up with the oppositions build up shape. Lack of movement higher up the pitch for both sides in particular Paderborn. Little rotations and all too static off the ball higher up (whilst in possession). Both sides making it too easy for the other to mark. Poor quality game so far, screaming out for someone to receive and dribble to break the lines. Eriksen needs to receive outside the block more often for me, receiving too much with his back to goal deep in the left half space where he’s already marked. Give the opposition something to think about ffs! Game theme = Both teams (OOP) matching up with each other’s in possession structure with the in-possession side doing little to counter it. Pic below an example of what we’re frequently seeing,

Elversburg have done it!! 🤩🤩 What a moment for them. Furth too!! they just about keep themself alive. German football man. Unmatched.

4 Highlights I've picked out from that first half Pic 1 - Castro-Montes inverting into midfield (very frequently) Pic 2 - The fluidity within Koln's structure when in possession Pic 3 - Koln's passive 5-3-2 mid block, not enough pressure on the ball high Pic 4 - St Pauli pattern down their right which they should be looking to exploit more, Ando -> Pyrka -> Sinani between the lines